Blake Hester
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Writing For
Game Informer
GameSpot
GamingTrendLatest Reviews
By the time I saw the credits on Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, I felt like I had been through the emotional ringer. I was mentally exhausted. I think that's by design. Infinite Wealth is developer Ryu Ga Gotoku's (RGG) most ambitious project by a long shot – an epic...
At its core, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk wants to remind you how cool other games were. Specifically, Jet Set Radio, Jet Set Radio Future, and a tiny bit of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. The problem is, by choosing nostalgia as its sole focus, Bomb Rush lacks an identity of its own...
There are two entirely different audiences for the Resident Evil 4 remake: those who have played the original game, perhaps multiple or even dozens of times over the last 18 years, and people who have never played it, but want to know what the fuss is all about. Let's start with...
Like a Dragon: Ishin is not a new game. It's a remake of an old game – 2014's Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin, released only in Japan on the PS3 and PS4. And yet, despite the age of its skeleton, in some ways, the game stands out as one of the more...
Hi-Fi Rush
Hi-Fi Rush occupies an increasingly rare space in the big-budget video game industry: that of colorful, goofy, and light-hearted titles. For its 10 or 11-hour runtime, it has more in common with a Saturday morning cartoon than a thin attempt at gritty, prestige television, like most triple-A games these days,...
Bayonetta 3
By the end of Bayonetta 3's third chapter, it's operating on a scale that dwarfs most video games. Buildings twist and crumble like flimsy plastic, giant craters pock-mark the earth, and mountain-sized creatures level entire cities; the bombastic culmination of an opening three hours that feel like they're running a...
Stray
Stray is a game about being a cat. You see, explore, and mess with the world in the ways only they can. Because you're doing so in one of the more densely-packed video game worlds in recent memory, there's plenty of room for kitty antics. Luckily, Stray wastes no moment...
Neon White
In 2021, while interviewing creator Ben Esposito about then-upcoming Neon White, he told me he wasn't trying to make a game appealing to everyone. He wanted Neon White to appeal to "really specific people."
Ghostwire: Tokyo has a completely dead world, empty of any other human beings or people to talk to. It also has rote and repetitive combat with a bland and uninspired story. And yet, I love it more than I like most games, even if I think a lot of people...
Last week, I noticed my hand was sore. I didn't think much of it, mostly because I wasn't sure why it would be hurting. On Monday, while playing OlliOlli World, I found my reason. I'm not sure there's a better way to recommend World than that; it pushed my hands...
Lost Judgment
Is revenge ever justified? Can a person take justice into their own hands and live with the weight of their choice, or should it always be left to a flawed judicial system that can and will betray the people it's designed to protect? These are the core questions at the...
Deathloop is a paradox, where time is in both infinite supply and quickly running out. Protagonist Colt Vahn is stuck in a timeloop, desperately trying his best to get off the gleefully nihilistic island of Blackreef. The rules of breaking the timeloop seem simple: kill eight targets within 24 hours....
